How Orta's reign at Boro unravelled

“He was allowed to recruit his own staff who - counter to the early rule of always speaking English at work - argued about tactics and selections in Spanish and who rarely talked to players or other staff.

“He saw himself as having an influential role in team affairs and he became central to the unfolding destructive dynamic behind the scenes.

“In the erratic final few months under Karanka the club was simmering as the embattled manager picked fights with fans, his medical staff, the backroom boys, the recruitment department, the press office and the Hurworth heirarchy.”

“The dressing room is sacrosanct. Not even Steve Gibson goes down there after a game. It is for the team and matchday staff.

“Yet Orta had taken it upon himself to intrude.

“He had to be physically removed - by Leo Percovich no less - after the Manchester United game, Steve Agnew’s first in charge following Karanka’s exit, after he barged in demanding to talk to “his” players.”

15:08Jonathon Taylor

Next through the door?

Aitor Karanka - well, that makes it interesting, doesn’t it.

The Spaniard remains the bookies’ favourite to succeed Garry Monk at Elland Road, and having his right-hand man at the club will only add further fuel to the fire.

Former Boro boss Aitor Karanka (Image: Mike Egerton/PA Wire)

For those of you who are Premium subscribers, I wrote a column on Karanka and how he could be the perfect fit for Leeds below.

If you’re not, ignore me!

15:04KEY EVENT

Done deal! Orta joins Leeds

Perfect timing! Leeds have just confirmed that Victor Orta has joined the club as director of football.

“I am excited by the opportunity to become Director of Football at a great club like Leeds United,” Orta told the club’s website.

“Once I had met with Andrea Radrizzani and spoken to him about his plans to take the club forward, I knew that this was the right move for me and I am confident that we can achieve great things in the coming years.”

Neil Bausor with Victor Orta, who was appointed to lead Boro's recruitment in Europe (Image: @BEMBIBRE3 / TWITTER)

And Orta’s arrival has been hailed by Leeds chairman Andrea Radrizzani.

“I am delighted to welcome Victor to Elland Road, I have been impressed by his knowledge of the game, his extensive scouting network and his desire to help us achieve our objective of getting Leeds United back to the Premier League.”

Full story:

14:38Dominic Shaw

Orta heading for Leeds?

It appears so.

According to The Sun, Boro’s former head of European recruitment will, as expected, join the Elland Road club.

It sounds like it will be in some sort of technical director capacity. Watch this space.

Will he joined by Karanka?

Victor Orta arrived at Boro in December 2015

14:17Dominic Shaw

Best of luck to Chapman and Fry!

The Boro duo will be hoping to both feature for England Under-20s against Costa Rica tomorrow.

Fry has started one game so far while Chapman has featured from the bench.

14:08Dominic Shaw

Two more years...

Arsene Wenger is staying on!

The Frenchman has agreed a new two-year deal with the Gunners, according to reports, with Arsenal set to make an official announcement on Wednesday.

So there’s one man who won’t be coming to the Boro this summer...

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger (Image: Evening Gazette)

13:45Dominic Shaw

'David Wagner, he's better than Klopp'

Deano, Jono Hogg and the Huddersfield lads were enjoying themselves in the dressing room after the match yesterday.

Class this.

13:27KEY EVENT

They key dates for next season

Right, diaries out.

Jono has been flicking through the dates that matter next season, from fixture release day to the opening weekend, cup dates and *gulps* the play-off final.

There’s also info on transfers, pre-season and TV games.

It’s a useful guide. Give it a read HEREthen stick it in your favourites for the weeks and months ahead.

Boro 'well equipped to go back up'

Quinn was on talkSPORT this morning and was asked which of the two relegated clubs he believes are best placed to bounce back at the first time of asking.

Boro, not Sunderland.

I thought if David Moyes would’ve stayed he might’ve got them into contention to get back up as he’d been there a year but another new manger coming in, new personnel, players, coaches...

I think, I don’t want to be negative, but Boro knew half-way through the season.

They signed Bamford and Gestede who score goals in the Championship.

I’m not saying they knew they would go down but bought players if they went down could do a job.

I think they’re well-equipped to go back up.

Adlene Guedioura, Patrick Bamford & Rudy Gestede

13:19Dominic Shaw

Who next for Sunderland?

Well they were also linked with Garry Monk at the back end of last week but that seems to have gone quiet now, with Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes still the big favourite to take charge at the Stadium of Light.

And there’s a new name mentioned today - Barnsley boss Paul Heckingbottom.

The Sunderland Echo say McInnes, who jetted off on a pre-planned holiday after Aberdeen’s cup final defeat to Celtic at the weekend, is still the leading candidate with the Black Cats set to favour an experienced boss.

But ex-Sunderland trainee Heckingbottom, who did a fine job with Barnsley last season, is also said to now be a contender.

Nigel Clough and Simon Grayson are two others to have been mentioned.

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes

12:43Jonathon Taylor

Anyone you fear?

Thanks to the @EFL Twitter team, who’ve rubbed in Boro’s relegation good and proper this lunchtime.

So this is next season’s Championship line-up, and you’d have to say that if Boro get this managerial appointment right, there’s nobody there to fear.

Championship line-up 2017/18 (Image: @EFL)

But it won’t be easy either. You’d expect Aston Villa, Derby, Sheffield Wednesday & Norwich to be strong next season.

A few unknown quantities in there too. Sunderland, Leeds, Fulham, Sheffield United, Wolves under their new chap... Birmingham under ‘Arry!

8 players linked last summer and if Boro missed out...

Cast your minds back to last summer - and Boro were being linked with every player under the sun. From Falcao to Jon Walters, from Martin Skrtel to Robin van Persie.

Some can firmly go in the ‘bullet dodged’ category, while others have gone on to have a pretty good season. Dom’s taken a look HERE. Below is a snippet:

James Morrison

“Has Morrison set the world alight for West Brom this season? No. But could Boro have done with his nous and experience of the league? Absolutely.

“The midfielder was understood to have been keen on a move back to his former club last summer but any potential deal never got off the ground due to a disagreement between parties over personal terms.”

Alvaro Arbeloa

“No doubt prompted by Aitor Karanka’s Real Madrid past, Arbeloa was linked with Boro last summer after he was released by the Spanish giants.

He did eventually move to England, though to West Ham. And while injuries left Boro short at right-back at certain stages of the season, it’s safe to say they were better off without Arbeloa.

“For me, I’ve found concentration to be the biggest difference between the Premier League and the Championship.

“You feel you have a game under control – like West Ham away, the three points were there for us. It was the same at Man United, winning 1-0 in the 85th minute. The three points were there for us again.

Ben Gibson of Middlesbrough (Image: Getty Images Europe)

“So there’s five points we’ve lost there. But in the Premier League, one moment – Dimitri Payet’s run – and everything can change. Against Man United, it was the pace of Anthony Martial, the pass from Paul Pogba and the knock-down from Zlatan.

“Maybe in the Championship you could get back in and defend against that, but the quality – the pace and the intensity of these players – is unbelievable.”

Gibson was also asked who his toughest opponents were this season. It’s HERE.

11:58Jonathon Taylor

Doesn't look like Karanka's heading to Wolves

That was the rumour last week...

But it sounds like Wolves have gone for another option, with Paul Lambert set for the Molineux axe.

11:47Jonathon Taylor

Former Palace chairman isn't convinced over Monk

Interesting. He’s the favourite for the Selhurst Park vacancy, but ex-chairman Simon Jordan doesn’t think Monk would be a great fit.

11:44Jonathon Taylor

Some good stuff from Boro Stats

Look at those win percentages. Nothing between the pair.

11:42Jonathon Taylor

Clubs looking for new managers

Well there’s plenty. Here’s who’s scouring the manager market & the current favourites for each:

Boro (Nigel Pearson 1/1, Garry Monk 9/4)

Sunderland (Derek McInnes 4/9, Nigel Clough 11/2)

Hull City (Nigel Adkins 9/4, David Moyes 5/1)

Crystal Palace (Garry Monk 2/5, Sean Dyche 5/1)

Leeds (Aitor Karanka 11/10, Claudio Ranieri 2/1)

Aitor Karanka (Image: Getty Images Europe)

11:38Jonathon Taylor

As for Jaap Stam?

The Reading boss has previously been linked with West Ham - but sounds like he’ll be in the dugout when Boro head to Berkshire next season.

“You need to feel this and experience it and take that experience into the next occasion. You have to learn from it and good players do that.

“Of course, it’s possible that you will miss, and that happens, and everybody is disappointed we don’t go to the Premier League.

“I am disappointed with the result, but not my players.

“We need to look at what we can do next season – no one thought we could win promotion after just one year.”